When teaching a new skill, what should initially be used to reinforce responses?

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When teaching a new skill, utilizing a fixed ratio schedule to reinforce responses is particularly effective because it provides a clear and consistent structure for reinforcement. In this type of schedule, reinforcement is given after a specified number of responses, which helps learners understand the connection between their actions and the rewards they receive.

This reliability encourages persistence and motivation, enabling individuals to repeat the desired behavior to reach the reinforcement criterion. The predictability of when the reinforcement will be delivered helps to establish a strong association between the skill being learned and the reinforcement, laying a solid foundation for continued skill acquisition.

In contrast, other schedules like intermittent ratio, variable interval, or random schedules may introduce more complexity that could confuse a learner who is still in the early stages of skill development, as they lack the consistency needed to reinforce learning effectively in the initial phases. Thus, starting with a fixed ratio schedule optimizes the learning environment for skill acquisition.

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